Trekking pole tripod – camera mount

Travel with a tripod? Planning for a long trek on foot, it is important to pack and travel as light as possible. But does that mean you have to compromise on recording the experience? I pondered that when considering alternatives to a camera tripod. For the Camino de Santiago de Compostela I will be taking my DSLR camera because I anticipate some unique sights – perhaps in low light, or long exposures. For this, I would normally take a lightweight tripod. But walking is serious business, and weight is a serious issue.

After some online searching, it came down to either a really small low tripod or finding a convenient rock or wall or post. But, being a bit of a tinkerer I also checked out Thingiverse.com and, sure enough, there was a design for a trekking pole camera mount. What a great concept! Of course, my wife and I will be walking with trekking poles for stability and to keep weight off our knees – which means we have four between us.

I considered making something like that from wood – fairly straightforward – but if you know someone with a 3D printer – or happen to have recently acquired a hobby-level one then it’s time to put the machine to work and make something more useful than a plastic unicorn…

It took a couple of tries, but the finished mount came out light and strong

Trekking pole camera mount

I added a 1/4 inch x 1/2 inch bolt to mount the tripod ball head

Trekking pole camera mount

And then it was time to test the full assembly with the upturned trekking poles – and it is very stable! I have no hesitation in trusting the weight of the camera to this setup:

Trekking pole camera mount

For the addition of a few grams I now have a very workable alternative to lugging a tripod. The key thing here is that sometimes it’s worth taking a fresh look at what you already have to find creative solutions:-)

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One Comment

What an ingenious solution to an age old problem. Even if I had such a camera mount, I’d only have 2 trekking poles with me. Think I’ll stick with my Joby Gorillapod for now – at least that’s my present thoughts.

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